A new Chair for The Granada Foundation

After almost 40 years of service as Chairman of The Granada Foundation, Sir Bob Scott, chaired his final Advisory Council meeting in December last year and retired, handing over the reins of the North West based charity to cultural leader, Dr Virginia Tandy OBE.

The Granada Foundation has supported arts and sciences projects and organisations since 1965 following a generous donation by the founders of Granada Television, Sidney and Cecil Bernstein. To date it has had only two Chairmen in its lifetime, Sir William Mather and Sir Bob Scott.

Sir Bob says, “it was a hard decision to make after almost 40 years in post but I am immensely proud of the support we have been able to provide to the creative talent in the North West and the High Peak by awarding over £6.5m in grants since we were formed. I am delighted that Virginia has agreed to take the Chair of the Foundation and given her unrivalled expertise of all things cultural, I can think of no-one better to continue to take it forward.

Dr Tandy said “The Granada Foundation is indebted to Bob for his contribution over so many years and I am very much looking forward to working with fellow Trustees and our Advisory Council to support the institutions, events and projects that contribute to the quality of creative and cultural life.

We are also welcoming the appointment of two new trustees to our Board, Martin Ainscough DL and Jane Davies OBE, who have served as members of our Advisory Council for a number of years.

Note: Dr Virginia Tandy OBE lives and works in the region. A former Director of Manchester City Galleries, she later became Director of Culture for Manchester. More recently she was the Founding Director of CADA: the Creative Ageing Development Agency. A previous President of the Museums Association, in the 2010s she was a trustee of the Heritage Lottery Fund. She is currently the Deputy Chair of National Museums Liverpool and Chair of Brighter Sound, a music development agency based in Manchester.

Please direct any requests for more information to the Foundation’s administrator, Irene Langford, on 07876 744 235 or at enquiries@granadafoundation.org

We are pleased to announce that our Advisory Council will hold two meetings to consider applications during 2024. The first meeting date is set for Tuesday, 9th April 2024 and the deadline for the submission of full applications is Wednesday, 20th March 2024.

The second meeting will take place on Tuesday, 5th November 2024, and the deadline for returning full applications is Friday, 18th October 2024.

For further details, or to submit an initial enquiry form, please visit our How to Apply page, or contact the administrator, Irene Langford, via enquiries@granadafoundation.org or on 07876 744 235.